The use of computer keyboards is well known in the art. Typically, standard computer keyboards are electrically connected to a personal computer and utilized as an input device to efficiently enter data. For those people that possess the requisite dexterity and are skilled in typing, standard computer keyboards are well suited for quickly inputting text. However, the standard computer keyboard is not well suited for young children with limited dexterity or those not skilled at typing.
Today with the growth of more powerful and less expensive computers, there is an increase in graphically based applications. There are more software applications that interactively display virtual objects which represent real objects that are controlled by the user for both education and entertainment.
For example, a software application is capable of displaying a virtual warehouse environment which includes a virtual forklift. This particular software application preferably allows the user to control this virtual forklift like a real forklift. Further, the virtual forklift interacts with other objects in the virtual warehouse environment similar to the real forklift interacting with real objects in a real warehouse. By practicing on the virtual forklift, a user with no knowledge of forklifts is able to learn how to operate a real forklift without the expense and danger of practicing on a real forklift. Further, at the same time, this software also entertains the user by showing the realistic interactions between the virtual forklift and objects within the virtual warehouse environment.
Unfortunately, in many interactive applications, like the virtual forklift example above, the standard computer keyboard fails to provide the user with a realistic interface with the interactive software application. In particular, to the user, the standard keyboard does not appear as a virtual control to operate the virtual forklift. As a result, the standard keyboard does not act as a representational object in these interactive applications. Instead, this standard keyboard appears as simply an ordinary computer keyboard.
As an alternative to the standard keyboard, the use of peripheral input devices such as a joystick, mouse, and trackball which electrically couple to a personal computer are also well known in the art. Although these peripheral input devices offer alternatives to the standard computer keyboard, these peripheral devices are costly to purchase and maintain because of their inherent electronic complexity. Further, the joystick, mouse, and trackball are not realistic representational objects in interactive applications. Similar to the standard keyboard, these peripheral devices fail to provide the user with a realistic interface with interactive software applications. In reference to the forklift example described above, to the user, these peripheral devices do not appear as virtual controls to operate the virtual forklift. Instead, these peripheral devices appear as the respective joystick, mouse, and trackball.
Mechanical joystick devices which mechanically couple to an underlying keyboard are also well known in the art. While these mechanical joystick devices are simpler than their electronic counterparts, these mechanical joystick devices fail to provide the user with a realistic interface with interactive software applications. Similar to the electronically coupled joystick, the mechanical joystick device fails to appear as a representational object of the virtual object displayed by the software application. Instead, the mechanical joystick device appears an ordinary joystick.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,319 issued to Satloff on Sep. 16, 1997, teaches a mechanical keyboard interface device with enlarged, decorative buttons. Each enlarged, decorative button has a flat top surface. Additionally, each button has two dimensional pictures of objects on top of the flat top surface. However, this interface device, as taught in the Satloff reference, fails to provide the user with a realistic, three dimensional representational interface to interact with software applications. These buttons taught by the Satloff reference have merely a two dimensional surface. For example, a two dimensional picture showing a face of a cat over one of the buttons is shown in the Satloff reference. Accordingly, this particular button showing the face of the cat is not a three dimensional representation of a virtual cat.
What is needed is a mechanical interface device for use with an underlying keyboard. Further, what is needed is an interface device that utilizes a three dimensional representational object that is manipulated by a user.